I am moving to New Orleans!!! I’ve been preparing to relocate to New Orleans from my current residency in Seattle, WA for a few years now. By September, this dream will have come to fruition as I packed up my belongings into a POD (which is a shipment company) and flew to New Orleans with my cat and really good friend into our new home there. You may be asking yourself as you read this, why New Orleans and especially why during a pandemic?

My connection to New Orleans happened when I attended my first conference; the United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA) in 2013, shortly after being hired as a Peer Advocate for BABES-Network. I was 22 years old. It was such a fun time if you can imagine a bunch of young advocates beginning our social work life as newbie professionals among some of the greatest leaders and activists in the HIV field and beyond in a city like New Orleans. It was an incredible and eye-opening experience. I was definitely overwhelmed and felt like an outsider for a while, but I felt like it was important that I was there doing that work. When we were done for the day at the conference, we would proceed to hit the town to enjoy drinks, the endless live music, and the delicious cajun food. I instantly felt connected to this place and realized that this place could feed my Southern heart in a way that I never knew I craved before. It’s a gem in the South that is so different from everywhere else and I wanted to dive into its wacky and dark, yet resilient nature.

So I did just that by returning in 2016 with one of the advocates of the cohort at USCHA 2013, and I kept going back every year to rejuvenate, admire, and learn from, especially about myself. I was so content and felt like I could grow there in ways that I couldn't in my hometown. I understand it’s different when you’re a guest of a new place, especially when you’re occupying that space for a brief amount of time, but people make the risk to move to new places all of the time for various reasons, even without knowing about the place. I am single with no children and ready to explore. It's the best time for me to branch out! I am not naive that moving to a new place can come with a lot of different challenges, but I want to leave my comfortable nest and challenge myself.

"I was so content and felt like I could grow there in ways that I couldn't in my hometown."

When COVID became public knowledge in late February to early March, everything was still up in the air so I didn’t want to stress too much, but of course I was initially worried that my plans were going to be pushed back or changed in some shape or form- but I wanted to remain optimistic. Fortunately, I had some downtime from working onsite when the Stay Home Stay Healthy order was mandated in the state of WA, which meant I got to take some time to sit and process my feelings with myself and my community about this move. Five months later the country is still dealing with spikes of new cases and deaths, and things are still very much up in the air; so instead of panicking even more, I decided to focus on the control I did have and follow through with my plan to move by September, but just differently. Originally, I was going to take a cross country road trip with my family and my friend, but we couldn’t risk being in close proximity to each other for that long right now with everything going on in the world. Luckily, my friend was still interested in coming along with me as I made this transitional adventure as safe as I could to New Orleans, and we will continue to follow the state guidelines of Louisiana while creating our new space there.

As someone who is HIV positive, I consider myself somewhat at risk because of my compromised immune system, but with more information coming out every day about how COVID thrives, I realized I am not much at risk compared to others that have respiratory complications. Not that I am unreachable to this virus, especially since I am an essential worker in the health field, but I am being as safe as possible and maintaining safety in the workplace. In the grand scheme of things, it’s been a blessing that I didn’t lose work and I’ve been able to keep my basic needs met for the most part, so because of the financial access I can afford this move too. I also reached out to my community here and fundraised to cover my expensive POD and any additional expenses that I don’t want to worry about. I was floored by the amount of support I received here and that confirmed that I was making the best decision for myself. Even though it’s been really hard to work during a pandemic and an uprising in response yet again to the many injustices of this country... I am grateful that I’ve been supported by my agency to show up in the ways that I can, while also taking care of myself.

The move is a huge change in location but also moving away from my supportive networks that I am familiar with and grew up in. In August, I had my last doctor’s appointment with my provider of many years who is one of the best in the state (and probably the country) that specializes in HIV. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought and I still have access to her until she retires in a year or two if I need any support while away, which is amazing. She was my second provider as an adult, and the one that I felt most safe and comfortable with, so I am grateful I had such a great advocate while navigating my health and care. I will be getting a couple months of my treatment prior to my move just in case because I am not sure how long it will take to transition into care in New Orleans. I feel like it will be fine, but you never know. I know where I can go to seek my care, and I also know several HIV advocates and folks living with HIV there to reach out to as well.

"...instead of panicking even more, I decided to focus on the control I did have and follow through with my plan to move by September, but just differently."

The toughest part about moving away is the distance I’ll have between my friends and family, though I am so excited to have them come visit when it’s safe again to do so, and I hope I can visit as well. I know a lot of friends and family are also reflecting on their next steps and moving may be in their future as well. So, there are so many possibilities to come! Luckily, we’ve had some practice in social distancing and we’ll continue keeping in touch virtually. Looking forward to sharing how my move went and the process of settling down into my new home soon!